NewJeans’ Hanni tells South Korean lawmakers about workplace bullying

A member of leading K-pop girl group NewJeans tearfully testified before South Korean lawmakers on Oct. 15 as part of a workplace harassment investigation amid a boardroom drama over her super-producer.

In recent years, South Korea’s K-pop industry has become a global juggernaut, powered by the success of groups like boy band BTS, but domestically the industry is known for imposing strict standards and controls on young stars.

Up-and-coming K-pop idols are expected to adhere to their powerful agency’s behavioral and appearance guidelines, with many stars describing receiving extreme backlash from fans over perceived flaws in their personal lives, e.g.

Hanni, 20, a Vietnamese-Australian woman, testified that she heard a manager from another idol group affiliated with her parent organization instruct members of another girl group to reject her.

“I saw a manager with three members of another group and said hello… When the manager saw me, she told the members to ‘ignore her as if you didn’t see her,'” she told lawmakers. “I couldn’t understand why I had to go through this.”

The alleged event took place amid a dispute between NewJeans producer and mastermind Min Hee-jin and Hybe, the South Korean agency that manages BTS, after Hybe filed a legal complaint against Min for breach of trust in business.

Min, who led Hybe subsidiary Ador which runs NewJeans, was replaced as Ador CEO in August amid the boardroom dispute.

During the livestream where Hanni raised the harassment allegation, all members of NewJeans demanded that Min be reinstated as CEO of Ador.

There are several lawsuits pending regarding this issue.

Unfair treatment

Hanni acknowledged that the ongoing dispute between the parent company and Min was related to the bullying she had experienced.

‘It couldn’t have been separate. But they didn’t have to raise that issue in the workplace,” she said.

“I felt I could not stand idly by while such behavior continued to occur,” she added, noting that NewJeans members had been subjected to other unfair treatment by Hybe, such as discrediting their performance in Japan .

Ador CEO Kim Ju-young, who succeeded Min, told lawmakers that while she personally believed Hanni’s story, there was no CCTV available to support it.

Hanni’s testimony was given to South Korean lawmakers who serve on the parliamentary committee that oversees workplace conditions and safety, which is not an investigative body.

Min, who entered the industry in the early 2000s, is widely regarded as one of the most successful producers in the K-pop scene, having worked with stars such as Girls’ Generation, EXO and SHINee, among others.

NewJeans, produced by Min, are among Hybe’s most successful K-pop groups, alongside BTS, who are currently on hiatus as some members serve South Korea’s mandatory military service.

BTS member J-Hope will end his military service on October 17.

“I am grateful for the attention people have shown to this issue. I hope my colleagues and (K-pop) trainees do not have to experience such worries,” Hanni said tearfully in her closing remarks. –AFP